Glass Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective

Chapter 43

Abby leads Zandra on the hike back up the stairs. It's no easier than going down, but at least it's quieter. That proves critical, because Gene's on the other side of the black bookshelf. Hidden in the stairway, they listen to him talk on a phone inside the library.

"He's always on the phone. Work stuff," Abby says in a whisper. "He walks the house and talks. Doctor's orders. But it's mostly because Kendra will never find him."

"They aren't doing well?" Zandra says.

"What do you think? She married for money. He married for tits. They're made for each other," Abby says.

They wait until Gene's voice carries off into some other corridor. Abby pops the black bookshelf open.

"Follow me," Abby says. "We'll take one of the SUVs out the back driveway. The cops won't see us that way."

Their route takes them through a massive kitchen, where Abby sends the cook a glare that sends him on a pointless errand into the freezer. A couple hallways later, they exit through a back door and head into a detached garage. Abby fires up a silver, over-sized SUV. Zandra piles in and does her best impression of a floor mat.

The SUV glides out a rear driveway, far from view of the police blockade a little farther down the road. A few Top 40 songs later, Abby parks the SUV outside the small hunting cabin Seth temporarily calls home.

"Nice to meet you again. It's Zandra, right?" Seth says when they walk through the door. He's still dressed in the flannel shirt and jeans from before.

The place smells like something greasy is on the menu for a late lunch. Buttery grilled cheese sandwiches fry in a pan on the wood stove. Hot dogs blister in the spaces between the bread.

Kid food.

"All things considered, I guess it's nice to meet you again, too, Seth," Zandra says, careful to not sound too enthusiastic or suspicious. She takes a seat and scans the cabin in the periphery of her vision. It's as if she'd just left.

Abby greets Seth with a kiss. It's half-assed. Their eyes don't meet, staring off into the walls behind them. Zandra supposes they're not as much the couple they were at the beginning of this mess.

"Thanks for making lunch, sweetie," Abby says and takes a seat next to Zandra.

Seth hides his face with an inspection of the food. "It's about ready. I hope you're hungry. I made plenty," he says.

Zandra can't help but enjoy the hot food, or notice how Seth turns on a battery-powered radio when the silence of them eating is overpowered by the wind outside.

"How much have you told her?" Seth says to Abby when they finish eating.

"Enough that she's here, ready to help," Abby says.

"You're in, though, right? This isn't some trick is it?" Seth says, turning a greasy chin toward Zandra. "No mind games. No Ouija boards. No bullshit. Just the truth."

It takes everything for Zandra to not laugh in Seth's face. Melted cheese plastered to the side of his mouth subverts the steely seriousness on his face. Abby offers a napkin.

"No bullshit. I need your help to clear my name. You need my help for, uh, actually, I'm not sure. Why am I here?" Zandra says. She folds her hands on her lap under the table, setting up quick access to the lawnmower knife.

Abby glances down at Zandra's hands. She loosens the bottom two buttons of her shirt near the pistol, then looks up at Zandra. Grins all sweet so Seth doesn't notice.

"We need to put the pin on someone else. Someone who isn't you, because, honestly, I think you're a fucking witch or something," Seth says.

Desperate and gullible. Just like the best clients at Sneak Peek.

"Oh, come on, Seth. She's a fraud. Don't be such a baby," Abby says.

"You didn't see what she did with the Ouija board the other day. That was fucked up," Seth says.

Abby laughs. She turns to Zandra. "Do you see why we need help? My scaredy-cat boyfriend can't un-tuck his balls," she says. "Go ahead and tell him. Tell him you're a fraud."

Zandra never admitted anything to Abby in the basement, and she sure as hell isn't about to now. She places a gentle hand over Seth's, slipping a finger under his wrist. His pulse is as wild as the fall wind outside.

"I'm sorry if the Ouija board spooked you the other day, but we need to move on. What's this thing you need me to do?" Zandra says.

Seth lets out a breath and resets his focus. "I've got this buddy of mine helping us out. He's not really in on the plan, but he owes me some favors. He was supposed to keep an eye on you and to turn you into the police after we planted that stuff in your apartment, but I guess you messed him up pretty bad. Sound familiar?" he says.

Of course it does. Zandra's lawnmower knife still wears the lumberjack's blood.

"He's in the hospital right now, all doped up because of the glass in his feet and that cut on his leg. The way I see it, all he needs to do is write a new ransom note and get a little of his blood on it. We'll send it right to the police. When they arrest him, Abby and me will testify that he forced us to help him pin it on you," Seth says. "You just need to go to the hospital and get him to write the ransom note."

Zandra can remember communion wafers with more substance than this paper-thin scheme. And like the wafer, she can think of a dozen ways the plan doesn't make sense.

"Why not just do this yourself? Why should I get involved?" Zandra says.

Abby chimes in like lightning. "Because Seth's too chickenshit to do it himself," she says.

Seth ignores the comment, but doesn't refute it, either. "Zandra, you're, like, a master at this stuff. I can tell. If it's magic, if it's something else, you're good at it. If anyone can convince him to write that note, it's you. Obviously, he'd say no to me, since we're setting him up."

"How receptive do you really think he'll be? I stabbed him in the leg," Zandra says. That's to say nothing of the fact she'd be walking around a hospital with plenty of security cameras.

"Don't worry, it's a good plan. I thought a long time about this," Seth says with the dull confidence of a hammer.

Zandra glances to Abby. She looks amused, almost like she dragged Zandra here just to have someone else tell Seth what a stupid plan he'd concocted.

"I get the feeling you have something better in mind," Zandra says to Abby.

"Of course I do. You should kill Seth's buddy in the hospital. Then we should kill Elle and get the hell out of here before the cops figure us out," Abby says.

The pistol appears on the table. Abby's fingers rest it lightly on the wood, pointing the barrel at Zandra.

"Hey, put that away unless you're going to use it," Seth says, pointing to the pistol.

"Who says I'm not?" Abby says.

"Don't talk like that. We need to focus."

"Oh, I need to focus? The last time I was here you were a quivering pile of dog shit coiled up on the floor, begging for a way out of this mess. Well, here we are, and you need to get your shit together. Your plan fucking sucks. Come up with something better or we do it my way," Abby says.

The rant suffocates the room. Seth stares at the ceiling. Abby leaves the table in disgust, the pistol dangling in the basket of her fingers.

Oh, to be young, dumb and in love.

Zandra jumps on the opportunity to toss an idea out. "We're partners in this now, so how about letting me in on Elle. Where is she?" she says.

Seth starts to say something, but Abby cuts him off. "Like we'd tell you," she says and rolls her eyes.

The sound of a vehicle pulling in next to the cabin interrupts their conversation. It's Gene. And he's flanked by two police officers.

Shit.